Jakarta-Bandung toll road sinks, closed for four days
Jakarta-Bandung toll road sinks, closed for four days
Yuli Tri Suwarni, The Jakarta Post, Bandung
People wishing to use the new turnpike between Jakarta and
Bandung will have to cancel their plans for four days as a
section of the road, known as the Cipularang turnpike, subsided
on Monday night. Repairs are currently underway and the road is
expected to reopen on Saturday.
A senior official with the state toll road operator PT Jasa
Marga said the subsidence had been discovered by the company's
workers on Monday night as they patrolled the area in Sukatani
subdistrict, Purwakarta regency. When first spotted, there was
only a small hole in the middle of the road. This, however, grew
bigger and by Tuesday morning, the hole reached eight meters in
width and four meters deep. The company closed the road at
midnight on Monday and suggested that motorists take alternative
routes either via Cianjur or Purwakarta.
"The incident was unexpected," said Minister of Public Works
Joko Kirmanto, who visited the site on Tuesday.
The incessant rain earlier on Monday evening, compounded with
unstable soil conditions, was responsible for the subsidence,
said Heru Atmodjo, the head of PT Jasa Marga's
Purwakarta-Bandung-Cileunyi operations.
Hendro revealed the unstable nature of the soil had earlier
concerned the designers. The builders, including PT Adhikarya,
had hoped to avoid the problem by compacting the soil in order to
make it more solid, but the incident still happened on Monday,
said Hendro.
The contractor, PT Adhikarya, has deployed an excavator to
fill hole with rubble, with repair efforts expected to last a
maximum four days, said Hendro.
Marjianto, operations director of PT Jasa Marga, said the
company would suffer losses of Rp 400 million (US$40,000) due to
the incident. As the road had been closed, the company would lose
the tolls paid by the some 24,000 vehicles that passed along it
everyday on average, said Marjianto.
As of Tuesday, many drivers who had heard nothing about the
closure of part of the road found themselves stuck in traffic
jams. "Had the government given out information earlier on the
toll road subsidence on radio or television, I would have not
picked this route," said motorist Sri Redjeki.
Connecting Cikampek, Purwakarta and Padalarang (Cipularang),
the new 41.3-kilometer road was opened on April 26. It soon
became popular among travellers as it shortened the trip between
Jakarta and Bandung from four hours to two-and-a-half hours.
The construction of the road had earlier spurred controversy
with many critics saying the government had speeded up
construction too much, thereby sacrificing quality, in order to
have it ready for the Asia Africa Conference golden jubilee
celebrations in Bandung city in April.